I keep forgetting the lap count

At my pool there are ten tiles to the lane.  So I put one of my flippers or the pull buoy on there and just move it across every time I get to the end.  works unless someone moves something!

This. Yes.

I push the lane rope disks as far as I can one side and every 100 or 200m I'll move a disk over. If you know how long it takes you to do a 50 you can do some quick math if you're using a stopwatch. Even if you're totally exhausted you know you didn't just finish that 200 thirty seconds faster than you've ever done one before, that calls for another fifty.

Wiff - 2012-11-26 4:39 PM I write my workout down on my hand and rub off the counts as I finish them.  It's crude but it works.  Plus, then I remember what I'm supposed to be doing out there.  

I like that one.

This but if you are like me and can lose count in something as short as a 200 you can use the clock to count for you as well.  You know more or less how long it will take you to complete a 100 so a quick peek at the clock (a digital one is great if your pool has one - a watch works too) can verify your count.  Say for example you are doing a 400 so you start on the :00 and at the 100 you take a peek at the clock.  You should know roughly what time to expect to see - for example 1:45.  When you take the peek you might see 1:43.  You keep going and at the 200 you take another peek and you should expect to see 3:28 (1:43 + 1:45), it might be 3:29 and so on.  If you ever see a time you weren't expecting, you know you either peeked early or late depending on what you see.

I saw a woman with an abacus at the edge of the pool the other day.

I use the Garmin 910XT.

Lane bouys, move one for every hundred.

Pennies on the side. similar to marbles.

Swimsense

Garmin 910xt

When I complained to my girlfriend, she bought me an abacus to keep in the water. That was not as effective as the sportcount. Then I lost that and started just using a timex watch, now I have a 910.

I bought one and it worked great when I remembered to hit the button.  I ended up buying a 910 and know I just completely zone out when I swim. 

This is what I do too.

I count myself among the count-challenged. I swim right after work and I sometimes am so out of it I lose track by 100m of a 200m. It doesn't matter if I'm swimming easy or hard. And right now I AM swimming quite a bit of "mindless" distance because I'm trying to build up the strength to start speedwork again. Not exactly mindless, but focused on smooth form, DPS, bilateral breathing, not cramping, etc. It can get really hypnotic after a while. The only things that kinda sorta work are continuously repeating to myself, "50 down and going for 100", "100 down and going for 150", etc. and using a watch to check if my time is reasonable for the distance I think I've done. This works well unless it's something like a 1000m time trial.

Where can one get the Sportcount? I've looked at several sports stores in my hometown and Singapore, and several online swim outlets, to no avail. 

Chances are that when you loose count you're no longer focused on swimming, I guess your pace becomes irregular and slower and form breaks apart too. Long distance sets are not very useful, even if you train for endurance. I rarely swim more than 400, and most my sets are repeats of 50, 100 or 200.

Use the clock and keep track of your time and pace:

If you know you swim 50 in say 1:05, you start at :00, by the time you're back to :00 you've done 600. It's usually possible to do a quick glance at the clock at the first breath after the turn without stopping. Take a look every time, keep track if your pace drops etc.

BR

I have brought stacks of change to the deck - moving a coin for each lap.

Someone on here suggested using the alphabet - and while swimming, I focus on the letter I am swimming - coming up with words that start with this letter, etc. This has worked really well for me.

One.  One.  One.  One...

Next lap:
Two.  Two.  Two.  Two.....

Continue progression.

Just swim.  Does it really matter if you have 20 laps or 22 laps in?  Until you get the hang of it (took me a while) just focus on time and form.

JasenGuy - 2012-11-26 12:28 AM
Sportcount is the way to go...

Ditto, I love this thing. Unfortunately it doesn't make me a better swimmer.